Evade (The Ever Trilogy) (23 page)

“Sit down, son,” Ted demanded.

Toby’s head snapped to the side, his blue eyes blazing. “Not your son, Ted.”

“
Sit
down.”

“Toby,” Cora pleaded. “You’ll want to sit down, honey.”

Toby sat beside me, taking my hands in both of his, then turned to me, searching my face with his gaze.

“Tell us,” he said, not taking his eyes off mine.

“If a Collector captures her soul,” Louis explained. “They will have the power to become a Reaper.”

“What?” Toby snapped. “Are you kidding me?”

“What is it?” I asked, not following and growing increasingly annoyed. “What’s the fucking big deal?” I cringed. “Sorry, Mom.”

“A long time ago,” Cora continued, “there were twenty-two Original Soul Collectors. We had a job to do, and well, as far as I knew, all of us were content in our callings.”

“I thought so, too, Cora,” Louis added. “We all did.”

“But one of us wasn’t happy. One of us thought he was better suited for reaping—”

“And what exactly does that mean? Isn’t that the same as what you all do?”

“No, babe,” Toby stated. “We find lost or reluctant souls—our assignments, so to speak—get to them however we can, then send them on. When they reach the crossroads, they’re met by either a Reaper or a Healer, depending.”

“On?” I swear, sometimes I think I must be the slowest person on Earth.

“Which direction they’re headed?” Toby pointed up, then down.

“Oh.”

“Yes,” Cora continued. “So, our brother—”

“Wait. You’re all
related
?” I dropped my gaze to the way Louis rested his hand on Cora’s leg.
Um, eeew.

“Oh no, not like that. They used to refer to our group as a brotherhood, before feminism was a thing”—she winked—“sometimes I catch myself caught up in the old ways.”

I nodded, still wary of their
relations
. Ah hell, I was wary of
all of this
.

“Frederick wanted to reap, so he made a deal with Lucifer and got his wish.”

“Lucifer? Like, the
actual
devil?” I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Yes. And when the devil makes a deal, there is always fine print. Much like our Seeker friend, Samuel. If he’s here to make a deal, we need to figure out why and what he wants, because the fine print is what’s important, not the deal itself—”

“He wants me to restore his life,” Toby chimed in, halting Cora’s explanation.

“Ah,” Louis said, nodding. “That makes sense.”

“But what could the fine print be in that? And how would it even work, anyway? How can he guarantee her safety once I’ve upheld my end of the deal?”

“You’re a smart boy, Tobias. This is precisely why I sent Ariadne for you in the first place. There is no guarantee, which is why we don’t make deals with Seekers, and why Annabelle and I trust that you will keep your head on straight and protect Ever at all costs.”

Hmm. I really didn’t like the way he referred to my mom and him as though they were a couple again. I narrowed my eyes at Ted, but I don’t think he noticed, or possibly he just didn’t care.

Not to mention that
I’d
be the one making the deal with the Seeker, and I didn’t need Toby’s
protecting
.

“So,” I said, bringing us back to the topic at hand. “The brother, or Frederick, made a deal with the devil and became a reaper, right? What was the catch?”

“From then on, any collector that ingested the soul of a branded individual would gain power beyond their control—”

“Wait. Why would the devil want to give them so much power?” I was lost. Again.

“Because power beyond your control, is exactly that:
beyond your control
. A collector who becomes a reaper by ingesting a Soul Brand becomes so powerful, that it will be the demise of him, and possibly others. If it is an
Original
…the stakes are even higher, and the choice leads straight to Hell.”

Louis cleared his throat. “Only
after
hell on earth for our kind. Wars between Reapers and Collectors, Seekers, souls, Healers…wars that make human affairs seem like child’s play.”

“W
hat do you guys mean by
ingesting my soul
? That sounds so…”

Impossible.
It sounded completely impossible. And insane.

“Ev, come on, honey. I don’t want you staying out here in case that…thing comes back.”

I pulled my legs up onto the chair, staring out onto the black water of Lake Washington. The two of us had been outside for an hour or so, alone, and I still struggled to process what I’d learned. My mom had decided she’d camp out on the couch in the game room tonight, though at the moment, she played pool with Trey—or pretended to, since every time I glanced at the house, her gaze was on me.

I’d
been given strict instructions to never go outside alone, since the house itself was apparently a safe place for me.
They’d
all been given strict instructions to hover. Or at least, that’s how it appeared.

“It’s exactly what you’re picturing, I imagine. He…or she…would have to drink from you, have to suck your soul into their own body—”

“Eeew, like, what, like from my
blood
?”

“No. Not like that. More like through a kiss—open mouthed.”

“Oh, well hey, not to worry. I’m not kissing that creepy Seeker anytime soon.”

“It’s not Seekers we have to worry about, Ever. It’s other Collectors. Like me.”

My eyes widened. “You?” I pulled my hoodie tighter around me.

Toby stopped pacing across the yard and strode toward me, kneeling down in front of the chair I sat in. “No. Never me. I would never take anything from you, Ever. And I won’t let anyone else either. My point was that it wasn’t the Seekers we needed to worry about all along; it was other collectors. I think that the only reason we’ve managed to evade them so far is that they don’t travel as quickly or as easily as spirits. That Seeker can get to us whenever he wants, especially the longer we stay in one place. Collectors are basically human, so they’re limited to human means of travel and tracking. Once they become Reapers, however, these rules and human restrictions no longer apply. We’re really lucky.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Lucky?”

“You know what I mean.”

“This is all fucking crazy,” I whispered, not realizing I’d said the words aloud until I caught Toby’s smirk.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re really on a roll today.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re cussing like a sailor.”

“So?”

“I like it.”

I gaped at him. I slapped my mouth shut and shook my head, but he just smiled, clearly amused by my colorful choice of words.

“I’ve cussed before, you know.”
Brilliant, witty response that was.

“Yeah. I think I can recall one time, Ev.”

“So!”

“So nothing. I’m just saying I like it.” He shrugged.

“Well, whatever. This is crazy. I mean, have you really thought about what you guys are telling me? I mean, all of it. Soul collectors, Seekers, ghouls… Reapers? God, Satan… I mean, what
doesn’t
exist in your world?”

“Your world too, babe. We live in the same world.” He said the words slowly as though I was confused. I wasn’t. “Everything we’re talking about here has always existed, people just don’t know about it. But none of the stuff you see in movies, none of that is real.”

“I’ve seen Reapers in movies.”

“True, but they’re not how Hollywood portrays them. And there aren’t any of those other things like vampires and goblins or whatever.”

“Werewolves?” I asked, slightly joking.

“No. Disappointed?”

“No. Fairies?”

“Definitely not.”

“Great. So nothing cool like fairies who grant wishes, or Goblin Kings who live inside mazes…just soul collectors who want to drink me. Awesome. I think I could have gone my whole life without knowing this stuff.”

“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that because then you wouldn’t know me,” Toby said, running his hands up and down my goose-bumped arms. “The fact of the matter is, if what Cora says is true, and there’s something…
special
about you, then you would have eventually been sucked into all this anyway. But, bonus—”

“I got you.”

He grinned, his dark eyes sparkling in the silver moonlight, then pushed up into a squat so he could kiss me. When he pulled back, his smile had vanished.

“No one is going to
drink
you, Ever. You know that, right? You know I’ll protect you?”

I nodded, my brain already trying to formulate Plan B. “You think my mom is okay about all this? I mean, it’s got to be a lot to take in for someone who just learned—”

“Want to know what I think? I think she knew about Ted all along. Maybe not about his connection to your sister vanishing, or the involvement with your dad keeping that info from her, but I think she knew what Ted was—is.”

“Yeah, I kinda think so too. Which means, again, that I was the last one to know.” I sighed.
Figures.

“She was probably just trying to protect you, Ever.”

“You know how tiring that is?” I held his gaze.

“What?”

“Being protected. Having everyone around you constantly think you need saving, guarding, and, like, I can’t just fend for myself because even if given the chance, someone will step in and save me before I can even try to handle a situation on my own!”

I stood, frustrated by the fact that I was constantly under someone’s protection.
Not anymore
, I reminded myself.
Not anymore.

“I’m tired,” I said, unfairly angry at Toby. “Where are we—I mean, where am I—sleeping?”

Toby stood, then reached for me, but when I swayed to the side, away from his grasp, he shoved his hands into his pockets and headed for the house.

“Follow me.”

We entered the game room and when I turned to head for the stairs, Toby grabbed my elbow. “Not so fast, gorgeous.” He pulled me through a door beneath the stairwell, into a room I hadn’t even realized was here. Our duffels were already on the bed.

Toby reached for his, then pointed to another door inside the room. “There’s the bathroom. I’ll sleep out here on the couches with Trey, and your mom can sleep in here with you. But if you need me…for anything aside from saving… I’m just right out here, okay?”

I nodded, feeling guilty for brushing him off. It wasn’t his fault I apparently gave off weakness pheromones that made everyone around me want to shield me from the world. He closed the door and I plopped down on the bed, stretching my limbs as far as they would go. I glanced to the side, where a small oak bedside table held an alarm clock, a set of new toothbrushes and various other sundries, a pitcher of water and two cups, and a large reading lamp.

I sighed, pouring myself some water and regretting pushing Toby away. He probably wanted to shower and freshen up just as badly as I did, and he’d probably want to stretch out on a big bed instead of cramping his back sleeping on a couch with his brother—in a room that had such large windows that the moonlight seemed almost to shine like the sun.

I’d take a shower, then tell him to come in. There was no reason he should sleep out there instead of with me. I mean, it was clear we were doing something here, that something was happening again between us, and I should have known better than anyone that fighting my feelings was a lost cause. And a waste of time in a world where I had no idea how much time I even had left.

I needed to talk to Samuel, see what he’d say about all this. I wondered if I could somehow
force
my soul into Toby. Would that make him all-powerful, or would it not count because he didn’t ingest my soul willingly, greedily? Could he just like, I don’t know, keep it for a while?
Like housesitting my soul?
I chuckled at the thought, glad I still had my humor at this point in my life.

When I finished showering, I dressed in my skully pants and tank top—then brushed my teeth, threw my hair into a knot-bun-thing on top of my head, and opened the small hidden door. My mom wasn’t in the room, but Toby and Trey were in the middle of a pool game, so I silently watched for a few minutes, finding myself smiling when Trey beat Toby at the end.

“Well played, little buddy.”

Trey racked the balls as I exited the tiny bedroom, approaching them at the pool table. Toby caught me from the corner of his eye, then turned and gave a low whistle. I shook my head, blush heating my cheeks.

Trey raised one eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Good thing, too, because being insulted about my wardrobe by the guy with a melting 80’s game on his t-shirt would have been a new low for me.

“You can shower now, if you want,” I said, suddenly feeling shy. The way Toby stared at me… I mean, geez, they were flannel freaking pajama pants for Pete’s sake.

“I’ll go eat,” Trey mumbled, then left the room quicker than either of us could respond, taking the stairs two at a time.
Strange guy.

“Where’s my mom?”

“Upstairs with Ted. Want me to call her down here?”

“No.”

Toby crossed the room, stopping just half a foot away from me. “You mad at me?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I wouldn’t want to upset you by trying to keep you safe or anything. I had no idea that me wanting to keep you out of harm’s way could be so…
offensive
.”

I rolled my eyes as I shook my head, fighting a smile. His familiar smirk drew my attention to his lips. “Just go shower. You smell.”

His eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “Oh, I highly doubt that.” He picked me up, and in one fell swoop had me tossed upside-down over his shoulder, kicking and screaming.

“Toby!”

“Shhh,” he whispered, laughing quietly as he hauled me into the bedroom. “Wouldn’t want them to hear you and come down here to…gasp…protect you!”

He tossed me onto the bed, then pulled his shirt up over his head. Standing before me, naked from the waist up, and his dark jeans slung dangerously low on his hips, he grinned at me, then smelled each of his pits.

“Eeew!”

“I don’t think I smell bad at all…do you?” He jumped onto the bed, then climbed on top of me, tickling my side with one hand, and trying to get me to smell his armpit with the other armed stretched up over my head.

“Ah! Get off! You’re disgusting!” I squirmed beneath him, kicking my feet and slapping at his sides.

He stilled, smiling down at me, one hand up around the top of my head, and the other wrapped around my waist. “You’ll think twice before being so mean to me next time.”

I nodded emphatically. “Definitely. You’re much too mighty for me.”

He lowered his head, bringing his lips to mine. “Much too mighty,” he said as he kissed me, pulling my lower lip between his. “And I smell good, don’t I?” He ran his lips back and forth over mine, sending chills into my cheeks.

I nodded. “Mhmm.”

“So do you.”

I smiled as his lips closed over mine, then I wrapped my arms around his back and held him to me.

A few minutes later, he glanced at the clock and sighed, resting his forehead against mine. “Twenty after twelve. We should get some rest.”

I frowned but didn’t argue. As much as I wanted to continue kissing him forever, I did need some sleep, and I also needed him to get into the shower so I could try to contact Samuel.

“I’m going to grab a quick shower…am I still couch-bound?”

“No,” I said, unable to hide my smile.

“Good. Trey snores like a mother.”